Sweetest Thing
by EmaniaHilel
Summary: Drabble - 500 words. PWP so what kind of summary can I give you? Note the MATUREish rating, k? Theme 13: Heatwave
1. Oranges?

**A/N:** It's short, I know. It's a drabble: 500 words or less. This one is _exactly _500. (exclusive of titles, quotes, and notes) It's also a PWP kind of situation...gratuitous seduction and making out. No sex because, well...you'll see. Also because I would've gone over my word count...((evil grin))

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Still broke. Based on theme 1 of an alternate 30 theme lists through 30kisses on livejournal (Oranges) but more about that below.

**Rating:** For cryin' out loud, if you're under 16 (or whatever the "Mature" rating age is on here) DON'T READ THIS. It's not too bad, but certainly insinuates enough...

_**Sweetest Thing  
**__**by Em**_

"_Ain't love the sweetest thing?_"  
- U2, "The Sweetest Thing."

Her fingers were methodical as they peeled the rind from the orange. She worked quickly and gracefully and before he knew it, the orange was rindless.

"Are you writing a book?" she asked monotonously, her eyes hidden from him.

"Pardon?" he asked.

"You're staring."

"Just wondering..." he started.

"About?" she prompted.

His smile was all sorts of wickedness, "Whether you're as good at stripping other things as you are oranges."

When she finally looked up at him, her eyes were mildly curious, "Shall we put it to the test?"

He thrilled- she was obviously in a playful mood, "I'm game."

She leaned forward until they were a hair's breadth away and her eyes twinkled, "Shall we start with..." she trailed off to look suggestively at his lips, "...a grape?"

He nearly fell out of the chair, "Not quite what I had in mind," he admitted.

"No?" she asked, quirking a brow and sitting back. "Hmm..." she thoughtfully bit into a slice of orange, smiling as his eyes drifted to the juice that escaped the side of her mouth, "An apple, then?"

He didn't always break first, but the desire to find out if the orange was a sweet and tasty as it looked was nearly overwhelming and he figured he could live with letting her win this game if it meant he could find out how far down her chin and neck the orange juice had traveled. After all, there _were_ other games to play.

"Let me help you figure it out," he told her helpfully, leaning forward and taking her hands. She raised the other brow but relinquished her hands. He raised her fingers to his mouth and, eyes on her, cleaned each and every one of the sticky juice and pulp, licking his lips when he was done. The look in her eyes almost undid him, but he wasn't through yet. With a wicked grin, he leaned in and rather than kiss her, licked her chin where the juice had traveled. It tasted even sweeter than he had anticipated and the tangy orange tinged with Raven prompted him to tilt her head back as he searched for more.

She gasped and the oranges she had cradled on her lap rolled to the floor as he led her hands to the buttons of his shirt, "Start here," he growled against her throat licking and nipping at wherever the juice had traveled.

"It's no fair distracting me, you know," she said breathlessly, ignoring the buttons and reaching for the warm bounty underneath.

In reply, he nibbled her collar bone.

"Cyborg!" BeastBoy whined loudly, "Robin and Raven are being kinky in the common room!"

Robin groaned and rested his forehead against her shoulder, "Busted."

"Aw, man, again?" Cyborg groused. "Don't make me get the hose, y'all!"

Raven smiled, "Which reminds me..." she lifted his face to meet his eyes, "I could use a bath."

Robin smirked, pulled her off the couch, and out the door before she could say another word.

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**A/N:** Through the 30kisses livejournal community, there are some alternate lists you can use. I had taken this one alternate list and kept it just in case I decided to do it, but I was never inspired by it for any pairing and Guardian Kysra already has Robin/Raven, so I didn't really look for another pairing. But...I dunno what had me looking at some of my older files and the one with this list came out and I got the image of Robin watching Raven peeling the orange and the rest, as they say, is history. I won't submit these to the community for obvious reasons, and I won't be as serious about doing them as I'd have to be if I were submitting them to the community. Anyway, my idea was to make these short drabbles. So, if I do any more from that list (and I might) they'll all be this style. Short.


	2. Pens on the floor

**A/N:** Another drabble. This one has a smidgen of a plot, but not really. Also not beta'd. **Not related to the drabble 1 except that you can pretty much assume the birds have been together for awhile**. The theme for this one was 'pens on the floor'. Word Count (exclusive of notes and quotes): 497. Have I mentioned how much I hate my titles? No? Well, I do.

**Rating:** I'd say about the same as the other one. Maybe even a little less.

_**Sweet Torture  
**__**by Em**_

"_Thou art to me a delicious torment."  
__- _Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friendship (1847)

She didn't care that what had taken her all morning to organize was now littered on the floor. She didn't so much as blink as the stacks of books toppled and the papers fluttered like so many kites. And when she would have lifted her hands to occupy them with something other than wreaking destruction of her work space, he pushed them back onto the mahogany, entwining his fingers through hers, knocking the cup off the edge of the desk before holding them still. The pens clattered to the floor, rolling everywhere but she didn't care about that either.

Not when his lips devoured her skin as if it were something sweet like honey and he was afraid someone would take her away before he'd had his fill. He wanted her, needed her, couldn't have enough of her and she felt it on her skin like another palpable caress. She wrapped her legs around him, urging and needy. He responded by lifting her onto the edge, then tortured her with kisses that were too brief, touches that took her to the edge of sanity and pleasure and then left her there. She knew if she could touch him, kiss him, he wouldn't be able to torture her so. She ached for him.

Their lovemaking wasn't always filled with such urgency. Sometimes, it was gentle and careful, as if she were something precious he was afraid would break. On those days when he had almost lost her and only luck or teamwork kept her safe it was about love, warmth, and belonging. They made love grateful that they still had each other, careful of bruises and memorizing the plains of each other's bodies as if it were the first time. On those nights, she felt so cherished she cried.

But the days when she was apart from him or he grew jealous (with or without reason), their sex became a clash of wills, a battle for dominance, each pushing the other to break first, to be the first to cry out for release or beg for satisfaction. It was about pleasure, lust, need, and desire. It was about the reminder-the _affirmation_ that no one else could make either of them feel this way, want this much, abandon all else.

There was no gentleness, no words, no beds. Her desk, the elevator, the table...anyplace served so long as he could claim her as his. And she...she burned and ached and he took it all, demanding more - demanding she concede that only he could satisfy her.

She fought him for control not to oppose him- she _couldn't_ deny his possession or his claim any more than he could deny hers. No, she fought him because his raw need ignited her desire to _make_ him want _her_ more.

Ultimately, it was all about power: her power to make him need her and his power to make her unconcerned that her favorite pens were scattered all over the floor.

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**A/N:** I don't feel that this one flows quite as well as the other one did, but I'm kind of sick of looking at it. It's funny, but because they have the restriction of being so short, I really tend to devote so much more editing time to it. The word count on this one actually went up to 540 or something at some point and when I saw that I was about to keel over. "How do I get rid of 40 words and still make it say what I want it to say?" Answer: _very_ carefully. Sheesh... And well, I'm not really _sick_ of it, I still like it, but I don't know...I don't like it _as_ much.

And yeah, another sex, but no sex _actually _shown piece. So sue me, I'm still getting around to actually figuring out how to write the sex without it coming out like purple prose.

**Thanks:** For part 1 up on my livejournal 'emsscraps' journal. (Are you guys even reading those? I mean, if it's too much trouble or you're not, then just let me know and I won't take the time to answer them and put them up there...) But overall, thank you guys, all of the regulars who keep on reviewing my stuff. ((GRIN)) You guys make it worthwhile.

**Spoiler:** Next theme on the list is "ringing". In case you guys can't tell, I'm trying to make these all drabbles and trying to make them all lemony or limey. ((shrug)) It's a challenge anyway. So we'll see what I come up with for that theme. (Did I mention that the restriction for the list is 'sweet'? That's why there's been some reference to sweet in both 1 and 2 of these drabbles.) Now...how to make 'ringing' relate to sweet? I have _somewhat_ of an idea...

**Special Note:** I posted a "In the Works" journal on emsscraps detailing what I had coming up and I just remembered that I said what the next theme for these drabbles was, counting that I had already posted this one. Course, I didn't. So, I didn't mention it in the journal and now I have to post it. I guess it's _mostly_ ready to post, anyway. By now, I hope you can get to the emsscraps journal.


	3. Ringing

**A/N:** I'll start out by saying I don't like this ficlet one little bit. I kept feeling I had to cut out too many things. I think maybe I might like it alright if I could elaborate all I wanted to. Just think, when I wrote it out to my satisfaction (which is what I always do, I write it out until I've finished the scene, and then I do a 'word count' and start to tighten and cut down as I need to) and I did the word count, it was almost 1200 words. I've had to cut out something like 700 words. So yeah, I don't like this one much, but I figure, what the hell? I couldn't think of anything better as a scene. So, sorry for the sorry excuse for a drabble. I gave it my best. But I'm not even kidding myself that it's a good one despite that.

Secondly, the quote I'm using...eheh...well, it doesn't really make too much sense for the drabble, but the point is that those were the lines that gave me the idea. The song is an awesome song, but it's not at all inspiration material for the drabble. Just those lines work, I guess. But I figured I'd use the quote because it was really what inspired the drabble at all. So there you go.

**Word Count:** (exclusive of notes and quotes) 496

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_**Sweet Promise  
**__**by Em**_

"_Music played and people sang / Just for me the church bells rang..."  
_- Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), Nancy Sinatra

There was a measure of peace in the sound of the bells and Raven paused to take it in, resuming her meditation only when it faded away. After a while, the door opened quietly behind her, but she didn't turn around; she recognized the warmth of his aura. "You're not supposed to be here," she spoke. In answer, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. She moved her head to the side to give him better access, even while she chastised, "And you're definitely not supposed to..."

He cut her off by capturing her lips with his own.

"You couldn't wait another couple of hours?" she breathed when he finally broke the kiss.

"I had to remind myself why I was putting up with all those people," he rested his chin on her shoulder, "So I came to find you."

"You've faced down master criminals yet run and hide from a few friends and family?" she teased.

"You can hit criminals," he reasoned, then, "Sure you won't chuck this all and run off with me?" he asked hopefully.

"After all the work Kori put into this?" she asked. "I'd rather not have a furious Tameranian Princess out for my head, thanks."

"Chicken," he murmured.

"No, cake," she corrected.

"You'd do anything for sweets, wouldn't you?"

The ringing of the bells interrupted her retort and gave her pause: an hour until showtime.

"Nervous?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Shouldn't you be?"

"Of what?" she asked. "This is more for everyone else than us, anyway." She thought for a second, "Are you?"

"Hell yes," he answered emphatically. "What if I fall on my face? What if I don't remember where I'm supposed to stand?" she laughed at that one, "What if _something_ happens, Rae?" he asked meaningfully.

She leaned against him, "You won't fall," she assured, "You won't get lost because _your guys_ will be there, and even if something _does_ happen, so what?" she smiled, "Today or tomorrow or _whenever_, I _still _do" she paused, "Don't you?"

She felt more than saw his smile, "I do, too."

She turned and saw his face for the first time since he'd come into the changing room, "You've had your eyes closed this _entire_ time?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged. "I can't see you before the wedding, remember?"

"I'm surprised you thought of it," she teased.

"You forget you're marrying a pretty inventive guy." And to prove it, he drew her in for a tender kiss.

"So I see."

"There are a few other things I'm pretty inventive at, as a matter of fact..." he continued.

"Does your inventiveness include hair and makeup?"

"No."

"Then you best hold that thought," she warned.

"But you won't need hair and makeup..."

"Oh?"

"Allow me," he offered.

And as the ringing of the church bells conveyed their half hour time frame before they were due to walk down the aisle, he showed her exactly how inventive he could be.

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**Spoiler:** The next theme in the list is "quid pro quo"...and wow...I have no idea for this one either...but we'll see what I come up with...

**Thanks:** As always lately, you can find individual thanks to the last one of these on the emsscraps journal, going up at around the same time as this. So if you reviewed last time, go check 'em out. I answer questions and pose some questions of my own on those sometimes...

Addy in case you don't have it already: (all that neat http stuff that precedes all internet addys) and then emsscraps (dot) livejournal (dot) com

You guys obviously know not to write "dot" in there but put one of these (.) right? I hope so. Just look for the journal entry that'll say "Review Responses to +Sweetest Thing: Sweet Torture+"


	4. Quid Pro Quo

**A/N:** This one feels weird (but then again, I think everything I've written lately feels weird to me...why _is_ that?) It is a little different than the other three, but I think it fits the themes, right? It's not a blatant lemon, but it does take on a limish tone when one considers the topic at issue. This one wasn't so bad, it started out at like 687 when I wrote what I wanted to write, so I didn't feel so overwhelmed at removing 187 words as I did with the 'Ringing' theme. I don't _really_ like this one either, but oh well.

This one also had like three different starts. I might post those over at 'emsscraps' as deleted/alternate scenes cause I don't think they'll make it individually...well, except maybe one of them might...but whatever, I'll post it anyway.

**Word Count:** 498

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_**Sweet Pleasure  
**__**by Em**_

"_Anything tastes better dipped in chocolate."  
_- Anonymous

She didn't look it, but Raven was embarrassed. It was in the tightness of her mouth and the stiff way she held her shoulders.

That was alright by him.

Oh, he didn't set out to make her uncomfortable, but tonight's plan had been to keep her unsettled – unsteady – and if she was embarrassed, she was certainly both.

"Are we done here?"

Robin looked at her and grinned, "We've barely stepped into the place."

She pointedly looked around at the tastefully displayed items and looked fully unimpressed, "You mean there's more to it than what we can see from here?"

He raised his eyebrows challengingly, "Are you reneging on our deal?"

"Of course not." As if to prove her words, she walked ahead of him, stepping across the threshold over which hung the sign proclaiming the establishment to be _The Pleasure Palace. _He found her staring in confused awe at the selection of flavored lubricants lining one section of wall.

"Why did you want to visit a place like this again?" Raven wondered.

"You've never been to one of these stores, have you?" he asked.

"And how many of these stores have _you_ been to?"

He chuckled, "Enough," he conceded, leading her further into the store, stopping before the section of the wall with various games and books, as well as certain edibles.

"To what?"

He slid his arm around her waist and brought her close enough to kiss, "To know what I like."

Raven was preoccupied enough to allow the close proximity despite the public arena. He was glad that instead resisting or pulling away, she concentrated on keeping her tone even and not leaning into him. "Such as?"

"Not important," he told her, his breath warming her lips.

"Oh?" she asked, her voice just slightly breathy.

He let his eyes linger on her lips. He wondered whether or not she was ready to let him kiss her in public yet. "Tonight is about..." He watched as she moistened her lips, "...finding what you like."

"How good of you."

He smiled slowly, "You have no idea." Before she could say another word, he let her go and turned her around. As expected, the selection of books drew her attention first, but once she had perused the titles and thumbed through a few, her gaze drifted past the games, and settled right where he thought it might.

Carefully, she lifted the brown jar, reading the label.

_Chocolate Fantasy Body Topping_

Robin wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Interested?"

"It's...promising."

He smiled, "So we'll get it..."

"But?" she anticipated.

"If we get that for you, then we have to get something for me."

"I see."

"It's only fair."

"Of course."

"Quid pro quo, one thing for another..."

She found she wasn't so embarrassed anymore. "Tit for tat?" she provided suggestively.

"Exactly."

"Well?" she prodded.

In answer, he smiled ever so slowly and led her toward the clothing section of the store.

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Spoiler:Next theme up is "Last in line". These are actually kinda HARD. I don't have any idea what to write for that one either.

Thanks: Special thanks to **_Kysra_** who gave me a suggestion as to the direction I might take this theme. I didn't do it exactly the way I thought I would, or the way I planned I would, but whatever, right?

Individual review replies are up at my 'emsscraps'. And I know I said it before, people, but please, either comment at emsscraps or make mention of it through a review for this one that you've read my replies. I hate to think that people think I'm not replying to you guys!


	5. Last In Line

**A/N:** Here's another one that went through like three different versions before figuring how to approach it. The word limit is a bitch.

**Word Count:** (exclusive of notes, titles, and quotes, etc) 500

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_**Sweet Indulgence  
**__**by Em**_

"_There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them."  
_- Sylvia Plath, "The Bell Jar"

Robin always knocked. Despite the fact she no longer had nothing to hide from him and modesty was long gone where he was concerned, he never took that for granted.

He knocked.

And she answered.

"You look..." he let his eyes trail from her matted hair to the bits of skin visible underneath the robe tinged faintly pink, "...gunky."

"You sweet talker you," she deadpanned.

"I think you need a bath," he determined.

"You don't say?" she asked sarcastically. "What gave it away?" He raised a brow at her sarcasm and she sighed. "It's not my turn yet," she explained.

He cocked his head to the side and regarded her evenly, "You're always the last in line, aren't you?" She didn't answer and he could tell she was trying to figure out the meaning underneath his simple question. Instead of explaining himself, he took her hand and pulled her from the room. "Well, tonight, it's your turn."

Shocked, she said nothing until they stood before the door to his bedroom and when the door opened, the glow of several dozen candles flickering in the darkness drew her into the room. It wasn't until she was almost upon it that she recognized that in the center of Robin's room, surrounded by candles of all sizes, was an antique looking, claw footed tub.

The door closed as Robin stepped inside, leaving the only the light of the dancing candles. Standing next to her, he bowed regally, "I have drawn your bath, milady."

Raven blinked at him in awe, "Where did you get this tub and how did you get it into your room?"

"Do you want to talk or do you want to bathe?" he asked.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, "Do you intend to join me?"

His hands slipped around her waist from behind, taking hold of the sash of her robe.

"I intend..." his hands tugged lightly and the sash came undone, baring her skin to the soft light. She inhaled sharply in anticipation, but rather than touch her, he slipped the chenille robe off her shoulders. When the robe fell lifelessly to the ground at her bare feet, his voice came at her ear. "...to bathe you," he answered.

Entranced, Raven said nothing as Robin gently removed the caked on evidence of their battle with a moist, warm washcloth until every inch of her flesh tingled from his deliberate attentions.

Reverently, he helped her into the warm, sweetly scented water, tenderly washing away the soap and leaving behind the imprint of his touch. It was the most relaxing, sensual thing she had ever felt.

Hours later, when he had carefully rinsed her body, tenderly washed her hair, and gently patted her dry, she stopped him from combing through her hair and turned to face him. Their eyes met in the light of the candles that had not yet burned out and she smiled at him.

"I think now it's your turn," she whispered.

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**Spoiler:** Next them up is "Parachute". Oi...how am I supposed to mix that with 'sweet' and keep it under 500 words?


	6. Parachute

**A/N:** I knew it would happen eventually. When I finished writing this fic to my satisfaction, it was 1436 words. By the time I got it down to 1167 on my third draft, I figured I wouldn't be making it down to 500. I tried. Oh, _how I tried!_ But after four drafts and lots and lots of attention trying to cut it down and keep it making sense, I got down only to 945.

Damn. I knew eventually one of these themes would hit me so I couldn't keep to the 500 word limit.

I'm going to post the full long, unedited version of this on emsscraps (at 1436 words) and also the slightly edited, tighter, but still long version at 1227 words, just so you can see a difference.

**Theme:** Parachute

**Word Count:** (exclusive of notes, titles, and quotes, etc) 945

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_**Sweet Persuasion  
**__**by Em**_

"_Ain't it crazy/ For a moment there this felt just like dying / But now I see that something inside / Is coming alive / Ain't it crazy?"  
_- "Heal Me", Melissa Etheridge

Robin looked at Raven then the small chocolate box waiting between them. "The idea was for you to open it _before_ it melted, you know." Raven blinked and Robin tried not to smile. "Do you want me to open it?"

She shook her head, reached out a hand, and paused. No doubt she could already guess at what was inside, even before she pulled away the lid. Still, the merest of glimpses had her crawling backwards, a frenzied parody of a crab, to push her back against the headboard. Robin watched, amused, until he noted how pale she was.

"Raven?"

Her bare legs were over the side of the bed, her head between her knees and she was taking in deep lungfulls of air before he knew it. "I think I'm going to be sick," she mumbled.

Whenever emotion suddenly overcame her, she sometimes had an almost physical reaction to it, he knew. And even though she _was_ getting better, he _had_ surprised her with quite an emotional shock. Still..."Not really the reaction I had hoped for," his tone was carefully light.

Her eyes were wild as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I..._can't_," she whispered.

The last of the amusement drained right out of him at her words. _Now_ he was worried. "You _can't_?"

"Look at me." Her eyes were on her hands and how they were still just a little shaky. "I've opened myself to you so much already. Everyday with you is so full of emotion I feel like I'll break from it, every moment with you is like I'm waiting for the world to collapse away from me but being without you is like falling--" her eyes closed. "I can't submit myself to a lifetime of this." She raised her head to meet his eyes, "If I bind myself to you any further," she wondered, "What will it feel like then?"

He smiled. She was inadvertently telling him something she had never really voiced: she loved him. Now to help her figure that out.

"That's why it's called _falling _in love, Raven," he explained.

"How could this feeling of _falling_ be love?"

"I don't know," he smiled. "All I know is that everytime you're not with me, whenever you're too far away for me to touch, I feel like I'm going to be sick with wanting you and when you're with me I know I'm finally someplace safe."

"It's like something inside me can't settle down unless you're with me."

He nodded, crouching down in front of her, taking her hands in his. "That's love."

"That's ridiculous," she frowned. "Why would love make me feel uncertain of everything and but certain of nothing _except_ you? Afraid but never safer than with you?"

"Because in here," he touched her chest where even through the cotton of his shirt he could feel her heart beating rapidly. "you know that while you fall, I'll be with you." The unspoken promise was there, laid bare in his eyes, "No matter what, Raven, you'll never fall alone."

"Love?" Raven sighed and pushed his longish hair off his forehead. "Only you can make me panic and only you can calm me so completely." She held her hand at his cheek and he pressed into it gently so she could feel the beginning growth of beard against her fingers. "So only you can stop my fall?"

"I can be the wind beneath your wings,"(1) he vowed.

Raven didn't get the pop culture reference. She frowned and pulled back to look in his eyes. "More like my parachute." She smiled, "You don't stop me from falling, you just make the fall much less scary."

He smiled tenderly and pressed his lips to hers sweetly. Eventually, he pulled back to search her face. "So..." he showed Raven the brilliant diamond topping the garland motif platinum band in his hand. "...is that a yes?" Tension settled back over her shoulders. She looked at the ring as if it might bite her. "You know," he joked, "you can't have the chocolate box unless you accept the ring too?" Because he wasn't sure what else to do.

Raven turned to him and raised a brow, and just like that the fear was gone, replaced by tenderness and mirth. "You hope to con me into marrying you with chocolate?" she asked pretending offense.

Robin grinned lopsidedly, "A specially made Godiva chocolate box _aaaand_ a pretty ring that used to be my grandmother's?"

At this new revelation, Raven looked back at the ring consideringly, her expression utterly unreadable.

"And my heart," Robin added unexpectantly serious. "My love," their eyes met. He smiled. "My everything."

"In that case," she smiled in that tender way she did when she thought he wasn't watching and so his heart soared even before she placed her hand gently and carefully in his waiting palm. "I accept."

His hand was surprisingly steady as he slipped the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand. She tested the weight of it on her finger, wiggling her fingers together and finally her smile met his.

They ended up much as they had been before the question: his legs between hers and his arms braced on either side of her arms, keeping his full weight off of her even though their faces were mere inches apart. "You are _so _difficult," he laughed.

"Part of the challenge," she teased, "And you love it."

The smile melted leaving only tenderness. "No." His calloused fingers touched her as if he would memorize her like this; wearing his shirt and his ring, in his arms and against his sheets. "I love _you._"

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**Notes:**

(1) This is a reference to the song, "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler.

**A/N:** I'm going to put a picture up of Raven's engagement ring in my emsscraps, too. Look for it under **_Reference +Sweetest Things VI: Sweet Persuasion+_**

**Spoiler**: Next theme is "Thrice a day, before meals". 0.0

**Thanks:** on 'emsscraps' tonight or tomorrow.


	7. Thrice a day, before meals

**A/N:** I love it when these come so easily. My first draft of this one had 987 words (or thereabouts) so it wasn't too hard to cut it down to my self imposed 500 or less. I did have to take out several bits of dialogue I liked though, so I think I'm going to put the full unedited version up on emsscraps if y'all'd care to look at it.

**Theme:** _07: Thrice A Day, Before Meals_

**Word Count:** 500 (exclusive of notes and quotes)

**Thanks:** I love that you guys like these. ((smile)) On 'emsscraps' individually. (if you don't know what my 'emsscraps' is, it's the livejournal account I have which pertains just to writing stuff. emsscraps . livejournal . com (without the spaces)

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_**Sweet Delight  
**__**by Em**_

"_Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down / In a most delightful way."  
_- "Spoonful of Sugar", Julie Andrews (_Mary Poppins_)

"Brat."

Robin's response was a heartfelt sneeze. "I-" sneeze "-don't-" sneeze "-need-" sneeze "-medicine-!" Sneeze, sneeze.

"Obviously," she deadpanned. "You much prefer to live _with_ the virus." She ignored his half hearted glare. "You stubborn mule."

He mumbled a reply which Raven understood perfectly. "Just because you're ill doesn't mean I have to baby you."

Once again, Robin half-sniffled, half-mumbled.

"Because I'm the only one you can't infect with your disease, that's why," she answered.

He did his best to glare at her. She ignored him and continued, "The doctor said that if you didn't take this medicine you'll be out of commission for a week or more." She poured the syrupy green substance into the small innocuous plastic cup and turned around to face him.

"We need you, Robin," she whispered, sitting on the edge of his mattress, close enough to feel the heat from his fevered body against her bare legs. He leaned away from her warily. "Take the medicine." She leaned closer, "Please?"

Robin couldn't resist and he approached as if in a trance. As soon as he caught the first whiff of the medicine, however, his mouth snapped closed and he pulled back, horrified.

Raven exhaled in frustration. Before he could apologize however, she surprised him by downing the medicine in one quick shot, fighting against her gag reflex as disgust flit across her features. Before he could react or ask why she had done such a thing, however, she took hold of his chin in her free hand and crushed her lips against his, demanding he respond.

Of course, he did. Without thinking. Which was why it didn't occur to him that he hadn't seen her swallow until the sickeningly sweet, sticky substance flowed from her mouth into his. He tried to pull away, but her lips pressed against his firmly until he had to swallow.

When _she_ started to break away, his hands went to the side of her face deepening the kiss, his tongue exploring every last inch of her mouth, cleansing the flavor of medicine with the taste of her. She responded to his insistence and shivered when he licked her lips for the last taste as he pulled away.

Breathless, his cold the last thing on his mind, he croaked, "What the hell?"

Her gaze flicked from his eyes to his lips and back again. "I remembered _Mary Poppins_(1)."

He was confused and replayed the movie in his mind. Realizing her reference, he smiled; "Your kiss as my spoonful of sugar?"

"You tell me."

"Two spoonfuls, maybe three," he decided.

She scoffed and stood, but before she could walk away, his parting words stopped her;

"See you before lunch."

Her brow arched, "You sure of that?"

He smile, pure innocence, "Read the label. It says, 'thrice a day, before meals.'"

He didn't see it, but Raven was smiling when she left the room and making a mental note to thank Starfire for renting _Mary Poppins_ earlier that week.

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**Notes:**

(1) Do I really have to explain this one? If you haven't seen the movie, "Mary Poppins" then please do.

**Spoiler:** The next theme is going to be fun: _Tattoos and Piercings_ . O.o


	8. Tattoos & Piercings

**A/N:** This one came about thanks to a late night conversation with **_MsLessa_**. I don't know exactly what we were talking about, or how we got there (do you remember, Lessa?) but I just know we somehow got onto tattoos and I said, "Oh, the next Sweetest Thing theme is 'tattoos and piercings'!" and she just went off on all these wonderful ideas about it and together the idea of this plot just caught in my brain and it came out.

**Theme: **_08: Tattoos and Piercings_

**Word Count:** 500 (exclusive of notes and quotes)

**Thanks:** Generally, I'm so glad you guys are enjoying these. Individually, on 'emsscraps', probably tomorrow.

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__**Sweetest Thing, Chapter 8  
**__**Sweet Taste**_

"_Thou art to me a delicious torment."  
_-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friendship (1847)

Robin awoke to his lover's lips trailing down his side. As tired as he had been, the caress of her soft lips brought him instantly awake.

"Raven," he watched her straddle his legs, voice thick with desire.

She paused, fingers just under the elastic of his sweatpants, to look at him. "Morning." Her own voice had taken on that tone that always made him smile.

He was only half amused. "Thinking of ravishing me in my sleep?" The other half wanted to kiss her senseless.

"You looked tired," she excused, attention returning to her hands at his waist.

He started to chuckle, then she laid her palms flat on his sleep warmed skin below the waistband of his sweats and his breath caught. Obviously, she didn't want to talk.

When her hands nudged his pants over his waist, he reminded himself to breathe. When her hands traveled over his hips in its wake, his head fell back against the pillows with the effort of staying still. He would've been glad to help and speed up the process, but he knew that flash in her eye – this was her show.

Her hands caressed the skin she exposed in careful exploration, as if she didn't know every inch of him already, but at his hipbone, she stopped.

"This is new," she mused.

"What?" he asked intelligently.

"This," she licked the spot to elaborate, "And it tastes like sweettarts."

Robin was finding it difficult to think. Eventually, he realized he should probably look at what she was talking about. He stared at the small heart encircling two Rs decorating his hip and blinked for a moment. "How did that get there?"

She quirked a brow. "Must have been some boys night if _you_ don't know."

He frowned, "Is it real?"

She kissed it as she would his lips. "No."

It brought a guttural sound from his throat. "Raven," he gasped, "For crying out loud..."

She raised her head and their eyes held. "Would you?"

Robin growled, and suddenly she was pinned to the mattress beneath him. "It can't taste _that_ good."

"I guess you'll never know," she answered, her hands tracing the line of his back.

"I wouldn't say that," he lowered his mouth to take her lips. She clutched at his back, her nails lightly scratching for a hold even as she returned his kiss. He devoured her lips, stealing the taste of the tattoo from them, and although it was good, he was sure it was because of the undertaste of Raven.

Sometime later, when the last of the lickable tattoo was gone and they dozed in their sunlit room, something occurred to him.

"You knew it was there, didn't you?" he asked.

Raven smiled, never opening her eyes or lifting her cheek from the warmth of his chest. "Speedy called and said they had left a present for me and where."

Robin laughed. "Remind me to thank him." He shifted and he was half on top of her again. "Later."

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**A/N:** So...what'd you guys think? Was this stupid? Cool? Sexy? Ridiculous?

I posted the unabridged version of this on my 'emsscraps' livejournal.


	9. Closet

**A/N:** This idea hit me pretty much as soon as I saw the theme was 'closet'. It just took me a bit to get in the right state of mind to actually write it out…

**Theme: **_09: Closet_

**Word Count:** 495 (exclusive of notes and quotes)

**Thanks:** Since I'm posting this from work before I actually have to start working, I will be doing the 'thanks' individually later tonight or tomorrow. Generally, I'm just really glad you all are enjoying these! Special thanks go out to **_GuardianKysra_** without whom I'd be quoteless.

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_**Sweetest Thing, Chapter 9  
**__**Sweet Privacy**_

"_Stolen kisses require an accomplice."  
_- Just One Fool Thing After Another: A Cowfolks' Guide to Romance

Raven knew that Robin was inside the front coat closet as soon as she passed it. She didn't expect for the door to swish open and for his hand to latch onto her wrist, however. He was quick, tugging her inside and closing the door before she had a moment to process.

"What--?" her exclamation/question was cut off by the feel of Robin's lips against hers. His kiss had just the right amount of give and take, the perfect amount of passion so that she forgot she had been snatched and pushed against Starfire's new jean jacket.

And when licked the edge of her chin and nipped at the underside of her throat, she forgot how to speak long enough for him to kiss down the curve of her throat and pull aside the collar of her t-shirt to better reach the part of her shoulder he loved so much.

When it seemed obvious he planned on tasting further south, she cupped her hand under his chin and pulled him up to look into the whites of his mask, "Robin."

He smiled at her and it might have been innocent if his hands hadn't been creeping up under her shirt, raising it inch by inch, baring her skin to his questing fingers. "Raven."

She managed to quirk an eyebrow at him, despite his gloveless hands trailing warmth along her ribcage, across her abs, under her breasts. "You planned this, didn't you?"

He smirked at her and dipped down to kiss the underside of her throat, forcing her head back against the wall of the closet, "I'd been dying to taste that spot since Timmy's Juicy Juice exploded in front of your face, right..." he trailed off and licked another spot on her throat, "...here..." he moved a few inches lower, "...and here..." he kissed her again, and looked up at her, pure mischief in his eyes, "I'm just dying to find out how far down it went before you got the chance to wash it."

She did her utmost to keep herself looking stern and un-tempted. "So you suggested the whole Hide and Seek idea just for that?" she asked.

He grinned, his hands caressing circles on the skin just under the edge of her bra, "I hadn't been able to get you alone all day," was his only excuse.

They heard the beep of the door open button with just enough anticipation for Robin to lean away from Raven and remove his hands from underneath her shirt before it opened wide, letting in the light from the hallway and the determined face of Timmy on the other side.

"Peekaboo, I see you!" Timmy declared, triumphant. "Waven," he turned to her, confused. "You were pwaying too?"

Raven turned to Robin, amusement obvious in her expression as she asked, "Have I ever mentioned how freakishly _good_ at Hide and Seek Timmy is?"

Robin didn't need to answer; he just banged his head against the wall.

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**Spoiler:** Next theme: **_10: Red Light_**


	10. Red Light

**A/N:** You see how much I love all y'all? Virus infected computer and here I am, getting this up for you anyway. It's taking longer to get stuff done because I don't want to push the pc too much with the virus on it, but I wanted to get this up before I wipe it to reinstall everything. So...yeah...expect something from me soon.

**Theme:** _10: Red Light_

**Word Count:** 498 (exclusive of notes, titles, and quotes)

**Thanks:** All y'all know the drill. I love you all. I thank you all. I appreciate all y'all. ::grin::

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_**Sweetest Thing, Chapter 10  
**__**Sweet Ride**_

"_Discipline is remembering what you want."  
_- David Campbell

It was the back of his neck that got her. The back of his neck _always_ got her.

It wasn't his fault, really. She was fascinated by it. She couldn't even say why and that she couldn't incredibly disturbed a supremely logical girl like her.

When she wasn't left with nothing to do but stare at it, that is. Face to face with his neck, she wasn't thinking about much except how the tips of his hair would tickle her cheek if she leaned in and kissed it or how she'd smell both his skin and his shampoo at once.

The current situation was a perfect example.

It was only thanks to years of training and thoughts of safety (perhaps even a small bit of pride) that she did nothing _but_ stare. Then they entered the city limits and came to a stop at their first red light, however, and all bets were effectively _off_.

She had the courtesy of waiting until he'd shifted into neutral and planted his feet on the ground before pressing her lips right on the spot where his hair brushed against his skin.

Robin jerked at the unexpected contact and the R-Cycle's exhaust gunned in response but Raven ruthlessly continued to lick, kiss, and nip at his neck as if he hadn't reacted at all.

He tried to turn around to face her, but Raven held him still with a hand on either side of his head and as she continued her exploration, he gasped her name.

Raven, too busy to answer, couldn't help the soft moan when his hands reached back to touch her thighs. The higher his hands went, the lower her mouth, until she was pulling the neck of his t-shirt wider just to reach that sweet spot along his spine where she could feel the muscles bunching and moving under his skin and against her lips.

Then, just before Robin gave up on letting her have her way, she caught the red flash to green, and stopped. Robin started to turn again, but she held him still, whispering in his ear, "Green means go, Robin." She wrapped her arms around his waist, hands pressing against his chest where she could feel the rapid beat of his heart.

"Who cares?" he asked, voice thick.

She chuckled. "We must always obey the rules, Robin."

He growled low in his throat, and she felt it every place they touched. Realizing her mind was made up, when she wordlessly pressed her cheek against his back, Robin shifted out of neutral with a practiced flip of his wrist, starting them moving again. "Hold on," he warned, seconds before sending them careening down the deserted and darkened street.

When he slowed down to take a turn, she spoke into his ear, "Keep this speed up and we won't catch any red lights."

He glanced back at her, the determined look in his eyes making her chest tight. "But we'll get home _much_ sooner."

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**Next Theme:** _11: Boiling Tar_. Oi...how am I supposed to make this into a romance and keep it away from S&M kinks?


	11. Boiling Tar

**A/N:** It took me the longest time to figure out how to approach this one, and then I figured the only thing I could do was use the oldest plot-device of all plot devices. I hope you forgive me regardless.

**Theme:** _11: Boiling Tar_

**Word Count:** 499

**Thanks:** I'm consistently amazed by y'all. If you've asked something specific or said something that I need to specifically respond to, I will through ff.n's _fantastic_ Review Response feature.

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_**Sweetest Thing, Chapter 11  
Sweet Comfort **_

_"Save me from torturing myself/ even within my dreams."  
_-Iron Maiden, Infinite Dreams

She didn't turn him away when he appeared at her door, didn't pull away when he reached for her, didn't keep him out when he backed her into her own room. Sensing that _he_ had to do this, she didn't even help as he reverently slid the thin straps of her tank off her shoulders, pushing them down over the swell of her breasts, beyond the flat of her stomach to fall in a pool at her bare feet, fingers searching every inch of newly revealed skin.

She let him search, touch, feel – assure himself that she was real, safe – whole.

She knew this exploration wasn't sexual, although she had never felt anything more sensually erotic in her life. This was about comfort, consolation.

She had felt the fear as he dreamt. She didn't need to ask; she knew that she had been hurt somehow and he had been unable to prevent it. Perpetually, his nightmares were about this sort of thing, the specifics didn't matter. Instead of asking if he wanted to talk, instead of trying to _tell_ him that it was alright, she did the only thing she could: she let him touch her until he _knew _that she was and search for wounds she knew he wouldn't find. And so, when he loosened the tie of her pajama pants and pushed them off her hips, she remained still as he continued his exploration.

In one fell swoop, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed, laying her down delicately before sketching the tendons of her left leg onto her skin, his fingers ghosting over thigh and calf, watching as her skin broke out in gooseflesh in reaction. When those gentle fingers traced the soles of her feet, her toes, the arch, she clutched at the mattress, but when he touched the other foot, she couldn't watch at all and turned her face away. It took all she had to remain still as she resigned herself to his unwitting torture.

Later, when every inch of skin was inspected, and he lay beside her, his finger lazily caressing the inside of her arm, needing to touch her still, he did something he had never done before: his lips pressed to the indentation of her elbow and he tasted her.

She broke the silence with a gasp.

"This skin…" another kiss. "I watched it burn," he licked his lips unconsciously as if she were made of something sweet.

In response, she did something she never did. "Let me guess," her fingers barely grazed his cheek, "a stake?"

He looked up at her, their eyes locking. "Boiling tar," slightly louder, his voice was gruff and rough at the edges, as if the nightmare screams that had lodged in his throat had done real damage.

She let her fingers touch his lips. "How medieval."

His eyes changed, and when he touched his tongue to her fingertip, she knew his doubt was gone. At least, for the night.

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**A/N:** Wow, this is a different sort of Rae, isn't it? Passive. Hm. And also a kind of needy Robin. Is it too out of character for them? I think they _could_ be this way, it's one side of the scale for them, I believe, but in drastic sorts of circumstances…

A little backstory – haven't you ever woken up from a nightmare where someone's died or you can't find them and when you wake up, the first thing you want to do is talk to them? See them? Touch them? Make sure they're real and you're really awake?

What kind of relationship do the birds have already established before this little thing happens? Who knows. What kind of relationship will they have _after_ this little snippet? Who knows.

**A/N 2:** Cause I know y'all are going to wonder: YES, I do / have listened to Iron Maiden. More when I was younger than I do now, but I do know their music and I did have that quote as a favorite from waaaaay before I started figuring out a use for them.


	12. Dragonflies and Fireflies

**A/N: **Okay...so I feel this is a little OC and maybe even a little on the mushy side, but I don't know. It's what came. What the heck, right?

It's been over a year since I updated this one...whoa. Has it really been that long?? I hope you guys are still around...

**Theme:** 12: Dragonflies and Fireflies

**Word Count:** 354

**Thanks:** I'll be using the ff.n's review response feature if I've got something to say to your review in particular, but just generally, thanks everyone for supporting my endeavors and especially thanks for letting me know what you like (or what you don't like, as the case may be) and that you're out there reading.

**_Sweetest Thing, Chapter 12  
Sweet Realization_**

_"Hit me like a ray of sun / burning through my darkest night..."_  
- "Halo", Beyonce

On the whole, Raven understood feelings (even if she didn't indulge in them). She _did_ have them (no one had ever really believed otherwise). For her, feelings were compartmentalized, easily identifiable bits of emotion. The first time she looked at Robin and felt lust, she wasn't as surprised as some might think. When she learned he felt the same, she was pleased.

The first time she felt his body slide against hers, she felt contented -- fulfilled. The way he touched her made her feel cherished.

His penchant for romance amused her. His sweetness moved her.

And then the Titans had been called out to Penrose, North Carolina, they spent the night in the valley at the base of Jeter Mountain and she and Robin had slipped out of the guest house and into the forest behind them, Robin's ungloved hand warm in her own.

She hadn't asked where he was taking her or why -- she felt longing for his touch and thought she understood -- but when he stopped just inside a copse of trees, she looked at him.

In the slivers of moonlight filtering in through the tops of the trees, she saw him smile at her and felt warm despite the chill in the spring air.

She could sense the expectation in him, the waiting, but before she could think of something to say or wonder what he was waiting for, she saw the first pinprick of light floating just above the ground near the line of trees across from them.

For a moment, she wondered whether she was seeing the legendary will-o-the-wisps she'd read about, but then there was another light nearer to her and she recognized the insect from books. Before she had processed even that much, however, they were suddenly surrounded -- dozens of lights flickering in the clearing like Christmas lights flickering in the night.

She turned to him -- to her lover -- a halo of flickering firefly light surrounding him, illuminating his smile, lighting the emotion - like fire - in his blue eyes, and smiled.

There, in the field of fireflies, for the first time, she felt love.


	13. Heatwaves

**A/N:** Wow! It's been just over a year since I updated this! (It became a year on the third of this month! Go figure!). I hope you guys are still reading this fic...this one is a little...um, forgive the pun...hot. Hehe.

**Theme:** 13: Heatwave(s)

**Word Count**: 497. (It started in 700-something.)

**Thanks:** I'll be responding individually using the review response feature if you asked me something or there's something I need to say, but as always, thanks to everyone who keeps on keepin' on!

_**Sweetest Thing, Chapter 13  
Sweet Heat**_

"_If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?"_  
- Steven Wright

The fan whirred lazily, the monotonous drone of the blades cutting through the air hypnotic.

On her bedside table, the ice clinked quietly, shifting as it melted.

"More?"

Raven didn't move from her prone position, watching the shadows cast against the ceiling as the fan made the curtains dance against the moonlight. "No."

She felt the dip in the mattress and realized that he had moved. She shifted her gaze to watch him reach across her body for the glass, her eyes caught on the line of neck, shoulder, sinewy arm, watching tapered *talented, lithe* fingers reached in and pulled an icecube out of the tall glass, watching her as he slipped the ice past his lips and into his mouth.

Realizing her eyes were on him, he smiled.

It was his smile that warned her.

"Sweet?"

"And cool," he offered, the cube on his lips. He held the cube between his fingers and raised his eyebrows.

Water melting from the cube raced down his arm and Raven followed it and nodded.

He brought the cube to her lips and she opened them slightly, watching as he painted her lips with the melting bit of ice. Her tongue flicked out to taste it and he chuckled and brought the cube into his mouth again.

"It's not sweet."

"I can fix that," he promised, reaching back across her body to pull another icecube out of the glass. He brought the ice to the dip of her neck instead.

She hissed as the cold hit her heated skin, her back arching off the mattress. As she caught her breath, he dragged the ice across her collarbone, along skin exposed by the thin straps of the tanktop she was wearing. Goosebumps rose along her skin and she inhaled sharply, the cold seeping into her skin wherever he traveled with the ice cube.

He pulled the ice away, leaning into her and she felt his tongue on the spot along her neck and she was breathless as he traced the wet trail of cold with his tongue and his lips.

"Mmm," he hummed. "Sweet."

"I was supposed to taste it." Her hands were gripping the sheets but her voice was almost normal.

He pulled back and looked in her eyes. He put the ice back into his mouth and leaned down and kiss her.

The warmth of his mouth and the cold of the ice sent shivers through her and she gripped his shoulders.

When he pulled back, she let her hands trail over his shoulders and down his arms as he sat up and it was her turn to smile.

"Sweet?"

She nodded, sitting up. "I think I do want more lemonade, after all." In one smooth move, she flipped him onto his back.

He smiled as he looked up at her, but only until the first drops of lemonade hit the exposed skin of stomach, and then it was his turn to hiss and grip the mattress.

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**A/N:** So? Was it good? The song I had on for inspiration to this one was "Turn Me On" by Norah Jones.


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